Revolver cylinder pin and lock therefor

ABSTRACT

A REVOLVER HAS A FRAME WHICH HAS A TRANSVERSE OPENING IN THE FRONT PORTION AND A LOCK MOUNTED IN THE OPENING. A CYLINDER IS MOUNTED IN THE FRAME BY MEANS OF A REMOVABLE CYLINDER PIN WHICH IS SECURED IN PLACE BY THE LOCK AND HAS A TRANSVERSE ARCUATE GROOVE FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH THE LOCK AND REARWARDLY EXTENDING LONGITUDINAL GUIDE RECESS THAT COMMUNICATES WITH THE GROOVE. THE RECESS TERMINATES BEFORE THE REAR END OF THE PIN TO PREVENT THE COMPLETE REMOVAL OF THE PIN FROM THE REVOLVER WHEN THE LOCK IS IN THE ASSEMBLED CONDITION. THE LOCK IS PARTIALLY RECEIVED WITHIN THE TRANSVERSE GROOVE AND IS MOVABLE BETWEEN A LOCKED POSITION IN WHICH IT CONTACTS THE CYLINDER PIN AND AN UNLOCKED POSITION IN WHICH IT IS FREE OF LOCKING CONTACT WITH THE CYLINDER PIN TO ENABLE THE CYLINDER PIN TO SLIDE OVER THE LOCK.

1971 R. c. KENNEDY 3,613,285

REVOLVER CYLINDER PIN AND LOCK THEREFOR Filed Jan. 22, 1970 Z2 Z6 10* 2 ,2; 4 F'IGZ 2 Z FIG 4 0 /Z FIG 3 .f/Vl/E/VTOA F4109 6? A E/V/VEDV United States Patent 3,613,235 REVOLVER CYLINDER PIN AND LOCK THEREFOR Ralph C. Kennedy, Wapping, Conn., assignor to Colts Inc., Hartford, Conn. Filed Jan. 22, 1970, Ser. No. 4,848 Int. Cl. F41c N00 US. Cl. 42-59 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A revolver has a frame which has a transverse opening in the front portion and a lock mounted in the opening. A cylinder is mounted in the frame by means of a removable cylinder pin which is secured in place by the lock and has a transverse arcuate groove for engagement with the lock and a rearwardly extending longitudinal guide recess that communicates with the groove. The recess terminates before the rear end of the pin to prevent the complete removal of the pin from the revolver when the lock is in the assembled condition. The lock is partially received within the transverse groove and is movable between a locked position in which it contacts the cylinder pin and an unlocked position in which it is free of looking contact with the cylinder pin to enable the cylinder pin to slide over the lock.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to revolvers and more particularly to revolvers of the type which have a cylinder mounted on a removable pin, as exemplified by the wellknown Colt Frontier model.

In certain prior art revolvers, the cylinder is rotatably mounted on a cylinder pin which is removably secured to the frame of the revolver by a transverse lock arrangement that engagingly contacts a circumferential recess in the cylinder pin. In a typical revolver, the transverse lock consists of a lock nut, screw and a spring. In the locked position the recess on the cylinder pin makes only tangential contact with the lock screw. If such revolvers utilize a high caliber cartridge, the intense recoil has a tendency to outwardly displace the lock screw against the bias of the spring, thereby dislod-ging the lock screw and unlocking the cylinder pin. This phenomenon has been attributed to the limited contact between the lock screw and cylinder pin and the lateral force imparted to the lock screw by the pin.

US. Pat. No. 2,955,373 overcomes the foregoing deficiencies by utilizing a cylinder pin having an arcuate transverse groove which engages the lock screw. This groove insures that a large area of contact will be established between the lock screW and cylinder pin so as to resist movement of the lock screw during a forceful recoil.

In order to assure orientation of the cylinder pin with respect to the frame such that the transverse groove will be in a position to receive the cross pin, an enlarged head having an arcuate cut is mounted on the forward end of the cylinder pin to slidingly engage the under surface of the barrel. The barrel is provided with an abutment adapted to contact the head to prevent complete removal of the pin. In order to release the cylinder pin disclosed in this patent, it is necessary to displace the lock screw a sufficient distance to allow the lock screw to completely clear the transverse groove.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention consists essentially of a cylinder pin having a transverse groove and a longitudinal guide recess which communicates therewith and terminates before the rear end of the pin. The lock screw of the revolver in Patented Oct. 19, 1971 "ice which the cylinder pin is installed is engagingly received by the transverse groove so as to contact and lock the pin. When the lock screw is Withdrawn from the engaging contact with the cylinder pin, the cylinder pin is axially movable in a longitudinal manner until the rear portion of the cylinder pin is contacted adjacent the terminus of the longitudinal recess. In the locked position of the cylinder pin, a positive locking engagement is achieved, since the lock screw locks the cylinder pin on and over the centerline thereof. Due to the position of the longitudinal recess, only a small movement of the lock screw is necessary to unlock the cylinder pin. This is highly desirable because of the small amount of space available to mount the lock in the front portion of the frame. In the unlocked position, the lock screw is cleared by the longitudinal recess in the cylinder pin, thereby permitting the pin to be axially moved in a longitudinal direction to free the cylinder. As the recess terminates shortly before the end of the cylinder pin, movement of the cylinder pin out of the frame is prevented. This is a desirable feature because it prevents a loss of the cyilnder pin when cleaning the gun in the field. The longitudinal recess of the invention accomplishes the objectives of the enlarged head and barrel abutment of the aforementioned patent, but is easier to machine for obvious reasons.

It is accordingly a primary object of the invention to provide a cylinder pin for a revolver which cannot be unlocked due to a forceable recoil wherein the pin is relatively easy to manufacture.

It is another object to provide a cylinder pin which requires only a small movement of its associated lock for the unlocking thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a revolver incorporating a cylinder pin of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional view of the revolver of FIG. 1 taken along the line 22.

FIG. 3 is another transverse sectional view of the revolver of FIG. 1 taken along the line 33.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 44 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the cylinder pin per se.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a revolver having a cylinder pin which embodies the invention. The revolver includes a frame 10 which has a hollow central portion 11, in which is mounted a cylinder 12 upon a cylinder pin 14. The cylinder pin 14 is mounted in a bore 16 in the front portion of frame 10 and in a cavity 18 in the rear portion of the frame. The cavity 18 is axially aligned with the bore 16. A barrel 20 is fixedly secured within a bore in the front portion of frame 10 in proximate relationship to the cylinder 12.

An ancillary housing 22, which is fixedly attached to a side of barrel 20, incorporates an elongated axial passage 24. An empty shell ejector rod 26 is disposed within passage 24 for axial sliding movement therein. Rod 26 includes a radial projection 28 integral therewith which is adapted to be manually contacted to urge the rod 26 against the bias of a spring 30. The urging of rod 26 into the cylinder 12 causes the empty shells within the cylinder to be ejected therefrom in a manner well-known to those skilled in the art.

Turning now to FIGS. 2, 4 and 5, it can be observed that cylinder pin 14 comprises a transverse groove 32 and an elongated longitudinal guide recess 34 communicating therewith. As is evident from FIGS. 3 and 4, the groove 32 has an axis transverse to the axis of the cylinder pin and the recess communicates with the groove at an axial side thereof. When the rearmost portion of cylinder pin 14 is inserted within cavity 18 in frame 10, transverse groove 32 is aligned with a transverse opening 33 in frame 10. A cylinder pin lock, generally shown at 35, is movably mounted within opening 33.

The transverse groove 32 of cylinder pin 14 and opening 33 form a generally circular passage which is adapted to receive lock screw 36 of the cylinder pin lock. Lock screw 36 comprises a narrow extension 38 which is threadingly inserted into lock nut 39, which is similarly disposed within transverse opening 33. An annular abutment 4-0, integral with frame 10, slidingly receives extension 38 of lock screw 36. A compression spring 42 contacts annular abutment 40 and lock nut 39 to urge the lock nut and the lock screw to the locked position illustrated in phantom in FIG. 3. Since the rear wall of the groove 32 extends over the center line of the pin 14 (shown in FIG. 3) and since the lock screw 36 engages the rear wall of groove 32 on and over the center line of pin 14, a positive locking engagement between the lock screw 36 and the pin is achieved. A rightward displacement of lock nut 39 to a position in which it contacts abutment 40 results in a corresponding displacement of lock screws 36 to the illustrated position of FIG. 3. In this position, it is possible to forwardly slide the cylinder pin 14 a distance sufficient to remove the cylinder 12 from the frame 10.

As best shown in FIG. 5, the recess 34 is formed by two orthogonal surfaces 44 and 46 which terminate near the end of the cylinder pin. The front portion of the cylinder pin 14 is provided with a plurality of circumferential grooves 48 to enable a user of the revolver to firmly grasp the pin.

In order to remove the cylinder 12 from the revolver for cleaning, it is only necessary to depress lock nut 39 inwardly towards the frame a distance sufiicient to cause the lock screw 36 to assume a position substantially as shown in FIG. 3. In this position the lock screw no longer contacts the cylinder pin adjacent the rear of the groove and one may thereby slide the pin outwardly from the frame. If the cylinder pin 14 is displaced slightly forward of its locked position after depressing lock nut 39, the lock nut may then be released to allow the inward surface of the lock screw to abut surface 46 of cylinder pin 14. The cylinder pin may thereupon be pulled outwardly from the frame, thereby causing surface 46 of the cylinder pin to slide along the lock screw. Because the longitudinal guide recess terminates before the end of the cylinder pin, it is impossible to remove the cylinder pin from the revolver. To reinsert the cylinder pin in its locked position, it is merely necessary to move the cylinder pin towards the rear of the firearm until the lock screw snaps into its locked position. The recess 34 assures proper orientation of the pin 14 during reinsertion. If desired, the cylinder pin may be removed completely from the frame by disassembling the lock. This provides an unobstructed path for movement of the cylinder pin.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described, it is to be understood that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departin g from the scope or spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. Ina revolver, the combination comprising:

a frame having a hollow portion, a longitudinal bore communicating with the hollow portion, a transverse opening in the front portion thereof communicating with the bore, and a cavity in the rear portion thereof, the cavity communicating with the hollow portion and being in axial alignment with the bore;

a barrel fixedly secured to the front portion of the frame;

a cylinder pin, having a groove and a rearwardly extending longitudinal recess, mounted in the bore and the cavity, the groove having an axis transverse to the axis of the cylinder pin and the recess communicating with the groove at an axial side thereof such that the rear wall of the groove terminates beyond the center line of the pin;

a cylinder rotatably mounted on the cylinder pin within the hollow portion;

a movable lock mounted in the transverse opening, said lock being partially received within the transverse groove for movement between a locked position in which it is in locking engagement with the rear wall of the groove at the center line of the pin, and an unlocked position in which it is free of locking engagement with rear wall of the groove such that the cylinder pin may slide forwardly thereover with a portion of the lock received by the recess.

2. The combination, as defined in claim 1, wherein the recess is formed by two orthogonal surfaces.

3. The combination, as defined in claim 1, wherein the transverse groove is arcuate in shape.

4. The combination, as defined in claim 1, wherein the recess terminates before the rear end of the cylinder pin.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,955,373 10/1960 Ruger 42-59 121,199 11/1871 Rupertus 4259 3,173,221 3/1965 Ivy 4265 BENJAMIN A. BORCHELT, Primary Examiner C. T. JORDAN, Assistant Examiner 

